Khamenei Says US Making 'Big Mistake' In Demanding Nuclear Enrichment Ban

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has cast doubt over ongoing negotiations with the United States on Iran's nuclear program, saying Washington is making a "big mistake" in demanding a full ban on uranium enrichment inside the Middle Eastern country.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the death of former hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, Khamenei said on May 20 that he "does not think" negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program will come to fruition.

In particular, he pointed to recent US statements, including one by President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff last week that any new deal between Washington and Tehran must include an agreement to refrain from enrichment -- a possible pathway to developing nuclear weapons.

"The American side that is participating in these indirect negotiations should talk, negotiate, and try not to talk nonsense," he said.

"It's a big mistake for them to say we won't allow Iran to enrich. No one is waiting for permission for this or that. The Islamic republic has a policy, it has a method, and it follows its own policy...The enrichment discussion is not a negotiable issue at all."

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes, but government officials caused alarm late last year by saying it could change its "nuclear doctrine" if it is attacked or its existence is threatened by Israel.

Iran has put forward a proposal to the United States and its Gulf Arab neighbors that envisions the creation of a regional nuclear consortium, which would include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with the potential for American involvement.

Witkoff declared that the Trump administration's "red line" in the nuclear talks with Iran is Tehran's ability to enrich uranium at any level, prompting Iran to say it will continue enrichment "with or without a deal."

"We cannot allow even 1 percent of an enrichment capability," Witkoff told ABC on May 18, insisting that any enrichment, even for civilian purposes, could enable weaponization.

"Everything begins…with a deal that does not include enrichment…because enrichment enables weaponization. And we will not allow a bomb to get here," he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi criticized what he described as inconsistent US messaging in public and attributed comments about zero enrichment to the Trump administration's attempt to pacify "special interest groups," which he described as "malign actors."